Letter-box



H. BUEG.

LETTER, B0X.

(NoAModeL) Patented Apr. 23, 1895.

UNITED' STATES PATENT Ormes.

i key c3.

HERMAN HUEG, OF LONG ISLAND OITY, NEW YORK.

LETTER-BOX.

SPECIFICATIONforming` part of Letters Patent No. 538,045, dated April 23, 1895.

Application filed January 29,1895- Serial No. 536,628. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN HUEG, of Long Island City, Queens county, New York, have lnvented an Improved Letter-Box, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved letter box and more particularly to a novel construction of theparts for introducing and withdrawing the mail and for'setting the dial that displays the hours of collection.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure l is a front elevation of my improved letter box; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section on line 2, 2, Fig. l; Fig. 3, a horizontal section on line 3, 3, Fig. l, and Fig. 4 a similar section on line 4, 4, Fig. l.

The letter a, represents the case ot' the letter box having its drop protected by the lid a', hinged to the arched roof of the box at a2. This lid is adapted to rest when closed upon an upwardly extending curved guard a3, from the free end of which depends a vertical plate or stop a4. Within the box a, there is hinged at b', and back of the drop, an angle plate b, b2, the horizontal arm b, of which rests normally upon a lug a5, of box a, a short distance above lid a.

When the lid a', is opened to introduce a letter or other mailable matter, the lid will raise plate b, and swing the plate b2,into contact with stop a4, (dotted lines Fig. 2.) In this way the contents of the mail box are protected against pilfering. When the lid a', is released, the plate b2, will recede from stop 0.4, and the mail will drop into the box. It will be seen that with my construction but one hand need be used to introduce the mail.

The mail may be collected either at the' provided. The case o. is open at the bottom and provided with a tilting bottom plate c, xed centrally to a rock shaft c', hung across the case. One end of this shaft is reduced and constitutes the cylindrical arbor c2, of a By rocking the shaft c', the bottom c, is oscillated to drop the contents of the box into a mail bag adapted to be suspended beneath the box.

lTo the face of the box a, there is secured a dial d, upon which the hours of collection are consecutively marked. This dial is operated by the oscillation of bottom c, so that the withdrawal of the mail will automatically set the dial. The mechanism for eecting this result is as follows: Upon the shaft c', is set a disk c4, having stops c6, and notch c5. The notch c5, is normally engaged by a lug g', of alever g, hinged within the box at g2. The free end of lever g, engages the lower end of rod e, the upper end of which is pivoted to a lever e', carrying the pivoted pawl c2. This pawl engages a ratchet wheel d', fast on spindle dot' dial d. Acoiled spring e3, surrounding rod c, and placed upon an oset of the same between a pair of fixed guides e4, has the tendency to normally draw the rod e, down. When the key c3, is introduced and turned to rock the shaft c', its bit will lift the lug g', out of the notch c5, to unlock the bottom c, and at. the same time t0 raise rod e, and thereby lower pawl e2,- into engagement with a fresh tooth of ratchet wheel d. When the shaft is rocked backward, the lug g', will reenter the notch c5, and thus the rod e, will draw the pawl e2, up to revolve the dial for the distance of one figure and cause it to display the next hour of delivery. Shouldit be desired to revolve the dial for more than one figure, it is only necessary to oscillate the bottom as many times as it is desired to advance the dial. The stops c6, on disk c4, have for their object to serve as contact points for the key bit, by which the disks o4, and consequently the shaft c', is carried around.

If the letter box is to be adapted for indoor or private use, it is desirable that the mail may be taken out, not from the bottom but at the front. To this effect, I provide a lower delivery opening which ,is protected by a lid f, hinged to the box at f. This lid is also so constructed that by opening and closing it the dial d, is set. To this effect an inwardly projecting sector f2, secured to the lid is provided with a notch f3, which is engaged by the lower beveled end of rod e, when the lid is closed. This rod thus constitutes in eifect a latch which may be raised by a key h, to release the lid f, which will at once be thrown open by a spring f4. Upon closing the lid,

IOO

notch f3, and thus an up and down motion of the rod will have been elected to revolve the dial d, in the manner previously described.

What I claim is- 1. The combination in a letter box having guard a3, and depending stop a4, with a lid adapted to rest upon the guard, and with an angle plate hinged Within the box, back of the guard, all being so constructed that the lid when raised, is adapted to engage the upper arm of the angle plate, and the stop is adapted to engage the lower arm of said plate, substantially as specied.

2. The combination in a letter box having an open lower end, of a tilting bottom plate with a rock shaft upon which such plate is centrally mounted, a lever operated by the rock shaft, a spring rod operated by the lever, and a dial operated by the spring rod, substantially as specified.

3,. The combination ina letter box of a tilting bottom having a rock shaft, with a notched disk mounted thereon, a lever having a lug that engages the disk, a rod operated by the lever, a pawl operated by the rod, a ratchet Wheel operated by the pawl and a dial mounted upon the ratchet spindle, substantially as Specified.

t HERMAN I-lUEG.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM SCHULZ, F. v. BRIESEN. 

